One man's journey to live out a childhood dream of attending Phillies Phantasy Camp… and to honor the memory of his beloved father.

12/28/10 – This Day in Legend History – Mickey Morandini

In the midst of all the holiday hullabaloo, I forgot to update the diary on December 23rd. On that day in 1997, Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini was traded to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Doug Glanville. Another popular and important cog in the 1993 machine was shipped to Chicago’s North side. Luckily for Phillies fans, this resulted in the acquisition of another future favorite among the Phaithful.

Glanville was a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania. He was enamored with the city and it’s baseball team. As part of his thesis, Glanville wrote about the feasibility of new ballpark for the Phillies who still called Veterans Stadium home. While manning centerfield, his hard-work ethic, and clean and classy persona quickly drew comparisons to another famous Phillie centerfielder, Garry Maddox. In fact, Glanville won the first ever Garry Maddox Community Service Award for the Phillies in 2000. In that same year, both Morandini and Glanville’s paths passed as Mickey made a return to the Phillies for 91 games before being traded again to the Toronto Blue Jays. Glanville signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers in 2003 and made a brief return to the Chicago Cubs, the team that originally drafted him in 1991. And like Morandini, Glanville made a brief return to the club in 2004 before retiring the next year.

Glanville is now a successful writer, baseball analyst, businessman, etc etc. You can read all about his accomplishments on his website. When I started this diary, I immediately thought of Doug. His excellent writing and love of the sport of baseball are infectious and I couldn’t think of a better person to share my blog with. I wrote him an email in early October. A couple days later, during Game 2 of the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds in fact, I received an incredible response from him:

“Hey Bryan! Thanks for sending this along and of course it really resonates with me because I spend a lot of my time thinking of things my Dad told me, what he would say, what he would feel about being a grandfather if he had the chance. My kids are 2 and 1 years old and they are growing so quickly. Because I understand at such a visceral level, the connection and loss of a father, I try to think about what kind of relationship I want with my son and daugther. All I can say is keep searching and sharing because so many people really do understand what you are going through. That is why writing really was a gift to me. I found the one thing that made me feel like my father was sitting on the shoulder. Giving ideas, chiming in like he always used to do. I understand why he would just walk out of a room just to write a poem, why he needed to write something at a moment. It has been a bonus to see how many people have found that space in my writing. The compassion, the empathy, the humanity in the game.”

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About

Originally hailing from Wilmington, DE, Bryan has been a lifelong fan of the Philadelphia Phillies ever since that fateful day in 1982 when his dad bought him his very first pack of baseball cards. Inside? An All-Star card for Mike Schmidt.

Since 2001, Bryan has been living in New York City, exploring all his varied interests... photography, writing and performing music, and blogging about his Phillies.

On the morning before Game 6 of the 2009 World Series, Bryan's father passed away. This tragic event inspired Bryan to live out one of his childhood dreams of attending Phillies Phantasy Camp. Through his writing and photography, Bryan is now chronicling this experience, and at the same time, honoring the man who brought the wonderful game of baseball and most importantly, the Phillies, into his life.

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